1 in 12 Scots claim sickness benefit

• 266,000 Scots 'sick or disabled', more than live in Aberdeen or Dundee

• 688,000 economically inactive Scots - ten times official jobless numbers

• Executive accused of using sick category to massage unemployment figures

Key quote

"It defies credibility, at a time when Britain has never been healthier, that the number of people claiming disability allowance is skyrocketing" - Dr Liam Fox, Conservative Party chairman

Story in full THE depth of Scotland’s sickness culture was exposed yesterday by government statistics showing that one in 12 Scots of working age is classified as too ill or disabled to get a job.

A total of 266,000 Scots are now deemed "sick or disabled" - more than the population of Aberdeen or Dundee. Yet none is included in the official unemployment count, giving a false picture of the health of Scotland’s economy.

The figures sparked outrage across the political divide last night, with critics citing them as proof that Labour’s pre-election economic claims do not represent the reality in cities like Glasgow, where one in three adults does not work.

The Scottish Executive yesterday revealed the first breakdown of people labelled "economically inactive" - a term applied to 688,000 Scots who are either sick, disabled, studying or caring for relatives.

This figure is almost ten times larger than the official unemployment rate which shows only 78,800 - 5.5 per cent of the population - claiming the dole.

Of the economically inactive, by far the largest share is the 266,000 considered "sick or disabled" - and being taken off the unemployment radar as they claim incapacity benefit and disability allowance.

The Scottish Executive said yesterday it was a challenge getting such people back to work, but overall economic inactivity was the lowest since quarterly records began 12 years ago.

"It is also worth pointing out that around a fifth of those defined as economically inactive are students - a group we would expect to be economically active in the future," a spokesman said.

But the fact that more than a quarter of a million Scots are categorised as sick or disabled was met with incredulity by the Conservatives, who said it showed how Labour was using the welfare system to massage down unemployment figures.

Liam Fox, chairman of the Conservative Party and a former Glasgow doctor, said he suspected the figures were swelled by Labour’s enthusiasm to move people from the unemployment tables and towards the disability register.

"It defies credibility, at a time when Britain has never been healthier, that the number of people claiming disability allowance is skyrocketing," Mr Fox said.

Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, said the disclosure was highly suspicious and indicated Scotland’s economic picture was far less rosy than Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, was suggesting.

"What these figures show is that, compared to the Labour Party, Margaret Thatcher was an amateur in disguising real unemployment figures for Scotland," Mr Salmond said.

The issue has been causing increasing alarm on the Labour backbenches, as MPs know the official unemployment count ill represents huge tracts within Scottish cities which the economic boom has passed by.

David Marshall, MP for Glasgow Shettleston, tackled Tony Blair on the issue in Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday - saying "the number of people classified as economically inactive remains at 100,000 - one in three of the available work force".

Glasgow’s official unemployment rate is 8 per cent - almost double the national average, but a fraction of the 30 per cent deemed "economically inactive" throughout the city.

One in five adults is deemed economically inactive in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Stirling, Aberdeen and Fife. The Highlands and islands have the healthiest employment ratio.

The issue will become potentially explosive ahead of the general election which Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, intends to fight on Labour’s economic record.

But Scotland and Wales have not shared the "longest period of sustained economic growth for 200 years" which Labour boasts about in UK-wide election posters - including those heading for Scotland.

Ministers privately accept that deprivation in inner-cities is not reflected by the unemployment count, and that disability allowance is a growing problem that must be tackled.

Mr Blair is planning to reform disability allowance and curb the growth of incapacity benefit, which is now claimed by 2.7 million people across Britain - of whom only 300,000 are fully incapacitated.

Jane Kennedy, the Minister for Work, said earlier this month that two-thirds of those claiming disability allowance are fit enough to work.

A five-year plan targeting the problem is due to be published next week.

HOW WORKFORCE IS DEPLETED ACROSS SCOTLAND

By area and inactivity ratio:

Glasgow 11.4%

Inverclyde 10.3%

North Ayrshire 10.1%

North Lanarkshire 10.1%

West Dunbartonshire 9.6%

Dundee 9.2%

East Ayrshire 9.1%

Clackmannanshire 8.8%

Renfrewshire 8.3%

South Lanarkshire 8.3%

East Lothian 8.1%

Angus 8.1%

South Ayrshire 8.0%

Falkirk 8.0%

Stirling 7.9%

Edinburgh 7.8%

Aberdeen 7.7%

Fife 7.7%

West Lothian 7.6%

Argyll and Bute 7.5%

Perth and Kinross 7.5%

Midlothian 7.5%

Dumfries and Galloway 7.1%

East Dunbartonshire 7.0%

East Renfrewshire 6.7%

Borders 6.5%

Aberdeenshire 6.5%

Moray 6.4%

Highland 5.9%

Western Isles 5.7%

Orkney 5.7%

Shetland 5.0%

Estimates for share of workforce considered economically inactive through sickness and disability. Source: Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey 2003/04